Neal Brown: Ayden Garnes is 'Going to Surprise People'

The West Virginia head coach likes what he sees from the Duquesne transfer.

West Virginia desparately needed to add experience to the secondary this offseason and so far, the early returns are good.

Northwestern transfers Garnett Hollis Jr. and Jaheem Joseph are as good as advertised, TJ Crandall (Colorado State) is ahead of his years, and there’s also a pleasant surprise in former Duquense cornerback Ayden Garnes.

“He’s going to surprise people,” head coach Neal Brown said. “He really jumped out to us when we played him last year and he can run. He can run stride for stride with EJ (Horton) who’s as fast as anybody we’re going to play. He’s always around the ball. He had multiple picks, he had two for a touchdown on Friday. I like the way he plays. He’s really smart and he can play a bunch of different positions.”

Garnes is being trained to play multiple positions in the back end of the secondary, so don’t be suprised to see him move around in his first year as a Mountaineer.

“He’s not as big as we wanted early on, but he’s put on about fifteen pounds since he’s been here,” said defensive backs coach ShaDon Brown. “He’s really fast, he’s coachable, he’s a tough kid. He’s got an edge to him.”

The coaching staff was really impressed a year ago when they saw him and the Dukes in-person and once he entered the portal, they went back and watched a lot of the tape from that game and knew he was someone they had to go after. In that game, he recorded three tackles and a pass breakup and never looked overmatched.

Garnes ended the 2023 campaign with 51 tackles, five tackles for loss, 11 pass breakups, two interceptions, one fumble recovery, and a sack. His performance led to a First Team All-NEC selection and a Pro Football Focus grade that tabbed him as the third-best corner at the FCS level.